Why write a memoir about an unpopular war that refuses to totally end? In a place most Americans could not easily find on a map, much less identify with its people? And with an enemy numerous but incredibly difficult to categorize with certitude?

First reason: because I needed to. It helped me deal with my own demons, as I lay out in the book.

Second reason: because as I put finger to keys (I wrote the entire first draft on an iPad), I went from merely recording and relating what I saw to actually THINKING about it, pondering what I might not have done, what I certainly should have done, and for the first time, really LEARNING.

Third reason: After about three years of writing, I had something more than a memoir of war – more a stream of consciousness of what leadership in chaos is like, with some wisdom thrust into each chapter after my reflection. And I thought others might find my lessons of value.

So Marathon War should hit the shelves, be they on-line or in a bookstore, in May of this year. To give you a preview, I will reveal bit by bit those insights that I write about in my book. Next time…we begin with what happened…